Back Again
by SeptemberAshes
Summary: When Harry, Ron, and Hermione are taken to Malfoy Manor, what if Dobby hadn't survived long enough to save them?


**Back Again by SeptemberAshes**

**Disclaimer: None of this is mine, everything belongs to J.K. Rowling**

**Hi guys - this story is only one chapter long, so enjoy**

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><p><em>Malfoy Manor – Drawing Room<em>

There was a deathly silence, and the two men stood quite still.

One second, they were glaring at each other in pure hatred, then as several long moments passed by; they finally seemed to come to their senses. Grasping their wands and pointing them straight at each other's chests, they erupted into a fiery duel, one that lasted for half an hour.

However, it seemed that just about every curse or hex that was thrown ended up hitting elsewhere as both men dodged spell after spell.

WHAM! The bookcases fell onto the stone floor, with all of its leather, hardback books tumbling out.

THUD! The ornate table sitting in the middle of the room suddenly caught on fire, and collapsed.

SMASH! The portraits hanging on the deep purple walls crashed, one by one, while its terrified residents tried to move out as quickly as possible.

BOOM! The enormous crystal chandelier from above, which had just been fixed and hung up, fell onto the burnt ornate table and broke into a million pieces once more.

_"Crucio!"_ A frustrated Voldemort cried, and for the first time, it succeeded. Harry Potter's screams pierced the air, making Voldemort laugh.

"Again, we have fought against each other and still you are alive," Voldemort snarled, sending a slight shiver down Harry's spine. "But it has been too long, _Potter_," He spat out his name in disgust.

"Going to kill me, Tom Riddle?" Harry panted.

"Don't you dare call me that filthy name-"

"I have every right to call you whatever I wish, snake-face!" Harry yelled back.

"Unfortunately, no one does, and since you've defied me for too long, it is time for you to die," Voldemort said softly.

"By the time I'm going to die, I would have already destroyed all of your Horcruxes and-"

"Don't you dare mention that word in front of me, I'm warning you Potter-"

With cruelty, amusement, and satisfaction written all over his pale face, he screamed,

_"AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

Harry was completely unprepared this time. He watched in horror as the blinding green beam of light shot out of Voldemort's wand and sped towards him.

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><p><em>Half an hour before:<em>

Bellatrix sprang to her feet, her hair flying as she brandished the silver knife; but Narcissa directed her wand at the doorway.

"Dobby!" Narcissa screamed, and even Bellatrix froze, "You! You dropped the chandelier-"

The tiny elf trotted into the room, he shaking finger pointing at his old mistress.

"You must not hurt Harry Potter," he squeaked.

"Kill him, Cissy! How dare you defy your old masters?" Bellatrix shrieked. Just as Narcissa had the incantation for the Killing Curse at her lips, there was a loud _crack._ Bellatrix's wand had flown of her hand, and Dobby caught it.

"Because I'm a free elf!" Dobby exclaimed, bursting with pride.

"What are you doing here anyway, you dumb elf? Going to save ickle Potty and his ickle friends?" Bellatrix sneered.

"Yes, Dobby is going to save Harry Potter and his friends, and you shall not harm Harry Potter!" he said. With a flick of his hand, he sent Bellatrix zooming backwards into the air and slamming into the wall.

"Don't you dare-"

Narcissa raised her wand once again, but Bellatrix was faster.

Without bothering to get up, she threw her silver knife; it seemed to fly across the room in slow motion, and the tip of it plunged Dobby in the chest. Dobby dropped dead onto the floor, his once joyful large eyes were now just pearly white orbs.

All hope was lost...there was no way now...

Furious at Bellatrix, Harry lunged at her, his teeth gritted and fists clenched, but Narcissa grabbed him and pushed him back. He fell onto the floor hard, causing a few laughs.

"We meet again, Potter, and I see that this time, you have brought along your little friends, have you not? The blood traitor, the mudblood, and the Boy-Who-Lived..." The sudden high, cold voice startled Harry, Ron, Hermione, and even Draco.

"Perfect, perfect...later on, you shall be rewarded greatly, Greyback and Scabior, but first of all, we must decide who shall die first?"

"Nah, let's do something else before we die," Harry offered.

"No, Harry, NO!" screamed Hermione, sobbing hysterically.

"Please, Harry, you can't!" shouted Ron, also on the verge of tears.

"What?" Voldemort snapped.

"A duel," Harry said, his heart pounding loudly against his ribcage.

"Ah...that's a lovely idea," Bellatrix sneered, while Lucius and Narcissa nodded in agreement.

Draco was nervously looking from his family to the trio, completely struck and lost between both sides.

"Well, the decision has been made," Voldemort hissed, silently leading him and Harry into the drawing room.

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><p><em>Right now<br>__  
><em>The Killing Curse was sprinting faster and faster, it was getting closer and closer...suddenly the darkness clouded over Harry's vision, and he knew no more.

...

_Thump!_

"Ow!" Harry grumbled, then looked around.

He was at...King's Cross? Why was he at King's Cross? And it was silent - there weren't any trains, and it looked like no one was here besides himself and a sick looking, trembling baby that sat beneath a chair. There were no scars or bruises carved into his skin, except the one on his forehead, and he was wearing plain black robes that were similar to his Hogwarts ones.

"What...but...I thought I was dead?" Harry said, totally confused.

"My dear boy, it_ is_ a pleasure to see you again," someone said behind him. The deep, old voice sounded familiar to him...

_"Dumbledore?"_ exclaimed Harry, spinning around.

"Yes, Harry, it's me" Dumbledore replied calmly. He was wearing midnight blue robes.

"But you're dead...so- so does that mean that I'm dead?" Harry asked.

"Well, I think not," he replied. There was light and warmth radiating from him, and Dumbledore was beaming.

"But...I saw it! Voldemort sent the Killing Curse at me, and I'm not dead! Is this a miracle of some sort? Or..."

"Well, my dear boy, let me explain," Dumbledore replied, and continued,

"You see, Harry, you are one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, one that Voldemort never meant to make-"

"What?"

"On that Halloween night, when he tried to kill you and he failed, he transferred some of his powers to you. That is how you got that scar, a connection you share between you and Voldemort, the ability to speak Parseltongue, and a part of his soul,"

"Oh."

"And as long as you are alive, as long as that fragment of Voldemort's soul is safely hidden inside you, Harry, then Voldemort cannot die,"

"But-but I'm not really alive either, am I? So does that mean that Voldemort's soul that was inside me..."

"Go, on, Harry..." Dumbledore said.

"Is gone?"

"Yes, Harry, you are entirely correct," Dumbledore smiled.

"And what about the Deathly Hallows? Are those real?"

"Yes, Harry," he now had a worried look on his face.

"So the three Peverell brothers were the three brothers of that tale?"

"Yes, my boy, they were indeed real. And not only that, you happen to be the Master of Death,"

"Well, Voldemort has the Elder Wand, and the Resurrection Stone is inside the Snitch, of course..." Harry said.

Silence fell upon them, then Harry said softly, "I've got to go back, haven't I?"

"That is up to you. You can either choose to go to a place known as Heaven, where you can meet your family which you have never known, or you can go back to the real world," Dumbledore replied.

"Voldemort's got the Elder Wand, but there's still a chance that he could be finished for good?"

"Oh, yes I believe that. If you go back, you have less to fear then Voldemort here does," Both of them glanced at the raw baby again.

"I..I'll go back," Harry announced to Dumbledore, and he beamed once more.

"Good luck, Harry," He said.

Harry felt himself disappear, and then he was in Malfoy Manor again.

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><p>"Come on, Harry, no one's looking, we can escape now," whispered Hermione into his ear.<p>

"H-how?" asked Harry, "I can summon Kreacher, if you'd like..." The conversation between him and Dumbledore was still fresh in his mind.

"Great idea mate, just do it quickly," Ron said.

"Kreacher!" and with a_ pop_, Kreacher was there. Harry spoke up.

"Kreacher, can you please apparate us into Number 12 Grimmauld Place?" All of them desperately needed rest before they could search for Horcruxes again.

"Yes, Harry Potter, sir," Kreacher croaked, and they were no longer at Malfoy Manor.

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><p><em>Later, In the Shrieking Shack<em>

Harry pointed his wand at the crate which was blocking the view and it drifted away silently. As quietly as he could, he entered, just in time to hear Voldemort hiss in Parseltongue, _"Kill,"_

He wasn't sure why he was doing it, why he was approaching the dying man, or why he was approaching a man that he hated and that had caused him so much trouble during his years at Hogwarts...

Harry kneeled next to Snape, whose face was completely pale, and took off his Invisibility Cloak. Snape seized the front of his robes and pulled him close.

"Take them.."

There was something silver that gushed and rose up from his body, it was neither gas nor liquid. Hermione conjured a flask and thrust it into Harry's shaking hands. Harry continued putting the silvery substance until it was up to the brim.

"Look...at me..." Snape whispered

Harry stared at him for a couple of seconds. Then Snape's black eyes became dull and lifeless, the hand seizing Harry's front robes dropped, and he moved no more.

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><p><em>A day after the Battle of Hogwarts:<br>_  
>Currently, all of the Death Eaters were either being killed or captured, and Kingsley Shacklebolt was named the Minister of Magic, elected by an overwhelming majority of the wizarding community. The Imperiused were finally coming back to themselves, and many trials and funerals were being held at the moment.<p>

Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, along with Ron and Hermione, had been placed on the Chocolate Frog Cards and were now all in the Order of Merlin, First Class. The trio's, especially Harry's, fame had increased twentyfold, for defeating the greatest Dark Wizard in history. It had somehow spread around that Voldemort had used seven Horcruxes, and that Harry was one of them, but he refused to tell the public how he had survived.

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><p><strong>Please Review :)<strong>


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